Cuttack: One person died, and 20 others were injured – six of them seriously – in a stampede on the Gopinathpur T bridge near Badamba in Odisha’s Cuttack district on Saturday evening, the local MLA Debi Prasan Mishra said.
Police identified the deceased as Anjana Swain (45) while all the six seriously injured have been shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital Cuttack. Others are admitted to Badamba hospital.
The injured included women and children.
Sources said the stampede occurred when around two lakh people gathered on the narrow bridge, that connects the main road with the temple, to visit the Badamba Singhanath Pitha Makar Mela organised on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.
Local people blamed the district administration for the mishap. They alleged that the mishap happened due to the deployment of inadequate police personnel to manage the crowd.
Only three police platoons were deployed, which was very inadequate, they said.
Senior officers have reached the spot and are trying to take control of the situation.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressed profound grief over the death in the stampede and announced a compensation of Rs five lakh to the next of kin of the deceased.
Patnaik expressed his sympathise to the bereaved family members and directed officials to provide free Medicare to the injured and prayed for their speedy recovery. UNI
